


Developing Trust

by Darkicedragon



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Grooming, M/M, Missing Scenes, anecdotal blood and violence, playing with hair, sleeping in a bed together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2129445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkicedragon/pseuds/Darkicedragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Developing trust takes time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiyutsuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyutsuna/gifts).



> Parallels treat.

Takeo couldn't sleep. He stared at the wall of 'his' room, lying in bed with one hand under his pillow. His gun (or rather, the gun Frankenstein had given him) was there, and he rested a finger on the trigger guard. It was quiet to his ears and had been for a while; he could only hear the occasional gusts of wind outside the window. The phantom pain in his body twinged but that wasn't what was keeping him up.

After being in the DA-5 for so long, it was strange not to hear other people's breathing or anything else: Shark sharpening his daggers, the shrill scrape piercing the air over and over again; Hammer opening a new bag of food, the sound of his chewing and the bag rustling when he reached for another handful filling the room. Tao tapping on his laptop to a beat only he could hear. 

Takeo pursed his lips, exhaling. He and Tao were alive. That was what was important. Teira… She was alive too. Not in danger so long as the Union thought _he_ was dead. 

And he could have been if he'd continued using the D drug. His gaze was drawn towards where he'd kept Frankenstein's version of the drug. Had the man really been able to remake a better version in a few hours? Takeo was tempted to test it, but he and Tao only had a limited supply and as Frankenstein had disappeared, they couldn't renew it. 

He sighed, turning onto his back. If the pills hadn't killed them, then Krans would have and - shit. Their entire existence was to power Krans that was it. All their gains had been for his benefit and – Krans had still lost in the end. 

Takeo tensed at a soft creak outside his door, his heartbeat jumping as he pressed his finger to the safety. Who was it? Was the household showing their true colours? Had he and Tao been tricked? 

Three light taps with measured spacing between them on his door. A pause. Takeo was out the bed, lowered gun in hand, by the time he heard the fourth tap. Walking was still difficult and Takeo hated that, his strength not fully back yet – he could still use his gun though and that was what mattered. He undid the lock and opened the door for Tao, who scurried in as soon as he could fit through the gap, his laptop under his arm. Takeo checked if anyone else was in view and then eased the door shut, locking it again. 

"What's wrong?" he hissed, turning around. That had been a signal they'd used in the DA-5 so they knew who was on the other side. Why was Tao here? Had he found something about their protectors? Did they have to run? Or had Tao found something out about Teira?

Tao gave him a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nothing."

Huh? Takeo blinked in confusion. There…wasn't anything to worry about? The grip on his gun eased as he relaxed a little. 

"The house seems clean right now," Tao continued. "I haven't found anything else yet about the occupants apart from Frankenstein founded and manages a high school." Tao's gaze slid from his, looking around his room. "They all go there, one way or another." 

Takeo nodded. Any information was better than none, and he trusted Tao's information gathering; it had been because of Tao they'd been as successful on their missions. 

"Uh... But yeah..." Tao still wasn't meeting his eyes. "I couldn't sleep, so I came here." A shrug. 

Oh. Takeo didn't say anything as he tried to figure out how to respond. The longer he took, the more he saw Tao shift on his feet, his gaze darting about. 

"Sooo, that's all I came here-"

"I couldn't sleep either," Takeo admitted. 

Tao's wide eyes snapped to him; it took a second for him to control his expression again.

"I'm...just not sure," he murmured. They were out of the Union, yes, protected, and in the few hours they'd been in the house they had been treated better than the years they'd spent at the Union. But that didn't mean it couldn't be an act, that there were plans for them once they lowered their guard. For all Takeo knew, that was how Aris had gotten him in the _first_ place. 

"Yeah," Tao said, sighing, rolling back and forth on his feet. "It sounds too good to be true."

It did and that didn't seem right; Takeo was far too used to how the Union dealt with things. And now that Frankenstein had disappeared… It seemed suspicious for him. 

"Maybe we should ask M-21," Takeo said. The other man had been here longer, so he would know better if they should worry or not. Takeo had asked him earlier, but that was before they had discovered Frankenstein had gone missing. 

"Hmm, yeah, that's a good idea." Tao nodded, and his eyes drifted to the door. "Now?" 

Takeo checked the clock on his bedside table. It was after midnight... He pursed his lips. He didn't know how M-21 would react to being woken up in the middle of the night (if he was asleep), but M-21 would understand their worry, wouldn't he? And why they had to ask.

Takeo nodded. "Yeah." He strapped his holster on, sliding his gun into it. Just in case it was needed.

Tao smiled and followed Takeo as he unlocked his door, keeping his laptop under his arm. 

M-21 had told them who else was sleeping on their floor and where; Takeo headed for the door M-21 had pointed to earlier.

There wasn't a response when Takeo knocked on his door. Was he asleep? The knock _should_ have woken him up if he'd been working for the Union, unless he did feel safe here? 

At Tao's soft hum, Takeo shared a look with him. Should they leave or knock for a second time? They weren't at the wrong door; Takeo was sure of it. He double-checked anyway and yes, this was the door M-21 had pointed to. 

He heard a soft creak of springs. Ah, now M-21 was up. 

When M-21 unlocked and opened his door, there was a crease between his eyebrows, and a frown on his lips. "Ye-" He stopped mid-word at the sight of them. His expression cleared and he stepped back to let them in. 

"Thanks," Takeo said as he entered the room. It was the same as his and Tao's - the bed was shoved up against the wall furthest from the door, staying out of sight of the window. Apart from the black and white suit draped over the back of a chair and rumpled state of the bed, the room didn't give much indication it was lived in. 

Takeo got a nod in return and when they were both in, M-21 leaned on the wall and looked between them, his eyebrows raised in question. 

"Sooo," Tao drew out, swinging his arm holding his laptop a little, "you're not worried?" 

The eyebrows climbed higher. "About what?" That had to mean 'no', if M-21 didn't know what they were talking about, if he hadn't already been thinking about it. 

Tao waved a hand, indicating the whole house. "Frankenstein disappeared without a trace -I haven't been able to find him yet- and you don't think there's anything...weird about that? Like..." He sighed, scrubbing the back of his head. "What if this is just a test or something, to see how we react?" 

The fact Tao hadn't found anything was suspicious in itself. That meant Frankenstein had either tried not be spotted by cameras or someone had erased all traces of the man. Or both. It could have been both. 

A smirk curled M-21's lip. "No. I trust them." His gaze wandered in thought. "If they wanted to test us, they would have done it in an easier way. They..." He exhaled, his shoulders hunching a bit. "They care, but they don't," he said, looking at them, like he was making sure they understood what he was saying. Takeo didn't; he kept quiet, waiting for M-21 to continue. "We're our own people here. They'll look after us but we don't have to answer to them - if we want to leave, they won't stop us. 

"It's our choice to stay here."

This place sounded even better than Takeo thought and he wasn't sure what to make of that. It was strange having the knowledge that he had the power to leave when he wanted, but it was comforting to know if they had it. M-21 seemed to think so, and if he believed it… Then maybe… 

M-21 didn't say anything for a few seconds and then shook his head. "Frankenstein wouldn't leave his master's side unless he had good reason to." 

That Takeo could believe, his healed injuries thrumming like they were fresh at the reminder. 

Takeo and Tao shared a look; they had gotten what they'd came for. 

Tao grinned at M-21 and nodded, clapping once. "We'll take your word for it, thanks. We'll let you get back to sleep, heh." 

"I wasn't sleeping," M-21 said with a shrug. "It's fine." He went to his door, opening it for them. 

When they were back in Takeo's room, Tao flopped into Takeo's chair like he was trying to take up as much space as he could, legs spread, one arm bent over his head and the other on the armrest. "Okay, that's a vote of confidence from him." And for them, it was the most important one, seeing how they shared similar circumstances. Takeo wasn't sure what to make of Regis and Seira yet. 

Takeo nodded, sitting at the foot of his bed on top of where he had put the folded blanket. "Are you going back to your room...?" Takeo asked, looking at him. There wasn't a reason for Tao to still be there. 

Tao sniffed, hopping to his feet. "Oh, I see - I guess that says what _you_ want." Takeo couldn't see his eyes, his hair covering them as usual, but there was a stiffness to his movements that wasn't usually there. 

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Tao." He wasn't going to take the bait and let Tao lead him from the question. "Do you want to stay here?" Though, Tao coming back to his room had already answered that, hadn't it? And Takeo was glad he had, if he was being honest with himself. 

Tao didn't say anything, stilling. "Kinda...?" 

He nodded, and then looked around his room, realising the problem that arose from that. "Where will you sleep?" There was more than enough space on the floor, but it didn't seem right that he had the bed while Tao slept elsewhere. 

Tao shrugged, setting his laptop on the desk. "Here?" he said, pointing down to the chair he was sitting on. "The floor? I dunno - we've slept in worse." 

They had. The house was _clean_ \- there was no dusty or musky scent clinging to the air (only food), no stench of burning bodies or vehicles wafting in from the broken windows either. The carpet alone was better than bare rock. And having a bed _with_ a blanket was a luxury, even though Takeo wasn't using the blanket. 

Still.

Takeo shook his head and patted his bed. "Come on." 

Tao blinked, glancing at the bed and then back at him. "Ah... Takeo..." 

"Please," he said softly. The situation was different from what he was used to, too strange, and having someone he was familiar with close to him would be comforting. 

Tao studied his face for a second and the defensive tenseness to his shoulders collapsed and he rubbed his face with a palm. "Yeah..." he said, matching his tone. 

Takeo climbed into bed first, taking his holster off and slid his gun under his side of the pillow. Tao scuttled forward, warily watching Takeo like he was checking for something. Whatever it was (maybe he was worried that Takeo would attack him once he was within arms' reach?), Tao seemed satisfied with what he saw and joined him.

Feeling the mattress dip from someone else was strange but Takeo didn't say anything as Tao got in. While the bed was cool, bit by bit the mattress started to warm up under him. 

They stared at each other, their breathing loud to Takeo's ears before he looked elsewhere. 

"We should try to sleep," Takeo murmured, focusing on Tao's hair. They didn't know what would happen in the morning, so it would be better if they were as well rested as possible. 

"Yeah."

They didn't say anything, Takeo far too aware of every breath Tao took until Tao snickered. 

"Not what you expected?" Tao asked, a wry grin on his face.

"No." He hadn't had any expectations, not when he hadn't been sure if Tao would even accept, leaving Takeo no time to make any. "You?"

"Heh, same." Tao wriggled, rubbing his shoulder on the mattress before settling down again. 

It was comforting feeling Tao's presence so close to his, knowing for sure that he was there, but Takeo wasn't used to allowing someone that close either. There had been a few times where he'd dozed off when visiting Teira; in those times though, he'd either fallen asleep in his chair or on top of her bed, meeting Teira's worried eyes when he woke up again. This was different. 

Takeo waited for a creak of floorboards, Frankenstein's master at the door, telling them they weren't supposed to share a room and Tao had to leave, but it didn't happen, the house staying quiet.

Tao shuffled nearer, his arms held close to his chest, a margin of space kept between them. "I was going to fall off the bed, heh," he explained, studying his face. 

Takeo nodded; there really wasn't that much space in the bed and he moved, pressing his back to the wall to give Tao more space.

"Thanks."

His mind had been settled about the household for now, which meant it was freer to gnaw about other things instead. Like how he didn't know where Teira was – it had been a while since they had last seen each other. She had been getting better, he knew that much. It would take some time, but she would be safe soon enough. The pills and Krans were also on his mind and he circled around those subjects over and over. 

They lay in silence until sleep started to pull at Takeo, his eyelids going heavy. His body had healed the wounds Frankenstein had given him, but now he had to recover all the energy he'd spent. 

He checked one last time that he was gripping his gun and drifted off to sleep to the sound of Tao's breathing.

-

Takeo woke up hearing Tao on his laptop and he didn't know where he was. Whatever he was on was too soft and there was material under his fingers? He would only hear Tao though – where was everyone else? 

His gun was safely in his hand but it felt wrong. He knew every single scratch and scrape on his guns and this one had neither. Brand new. The angles weren't right, the planes angular, smaller. It was far too light as well, feeling like he had something akin to a pen in his hand rather than a solid weight. This wasn't his, but who could have switched it out without waking him?

Tao's keystrokes slowed. "It's safe, Takeo," he said, and Takeo opened his eyes, looking across at where he'd heard Tao's voice. 

Tao was sitting on a chair – no, it was _his_ chair and – "Shit." Takeo used his free hand to rub the bridge of his nose, everything coming back to him. What had happened to the DA-5. Where they were. 

Why Tao was in his room. 

"Morning," Tao said, smiling. He was already out of his night clothes, wearing what Frankenstein had loaned them. 

Takeo must have been more exhausted than he thought – he would have normally woken up if someone was moving around in the room he was sleeping in, let alone getting out of his _bed_. 

"How are you feeling?"

He took stock of how his body felt as he sat up, pulling an arm across his body and feeling some of his muscles protest. "Better," he said. He still had some phantom pain in his torso, but it wasn't as bad as it had been the day before. He didn't feel as weak, more capable of walking.

There was something in the air and Takeo inhaled, trying to identify it. There was a bit of a tang, and some meat, but that was all that he could tell. 

"Yeah," Tao said, watching what he was doing. "I think that's breakfast."

"Breakfast," Takeo repeated, his brain making sense of what Tao was saying. Breakfast was a few ration bars if they were lucky – when they had one. 

" _Cooked_ breakfast," Tao emphasised, his lips twitching and Takeo stared at him, trying to figure out if it was another one of Tao's jokes. Having meals in a row was another luxury for them, let alone _cooked_. 

It didn't seem to be a joke, Tao stretching his arms above his head with a groan. Then again, he hadn't been able to tell Tao was joking with him while teaching him Korean. He just hoped Tao had been telling the truth when he'd said that those were the _only_ wrong phrases he'd taught him. 

"Should we go down?" Tao asked, his arms still held above his head. 

"There isn't a rule that we have to eat breakfast too," Takeo said slowly as he considered it. "But we probably should, just in case." He still felt full from the night before, but he would be able to manage a little bit to eat. 

Tao continued to work on his laptop as Takeo changed, only looking at him over the top when he was done. "Ready?" 

"Yeah." They left together, Tao leaving his laptop in his own room. 

The smell got stronger the further they went down the stairs, a faint sizzling accompanying it. 

Takeo turned at the sound of someone coming down the stairs behind them and paused at seeing M-21. He was wearing the black and white suit Takeo had seen in his room with a tie around his neck. Was it a uniform? 

…Ah, Tao had said the household was involved with a high school, so maybe he worked there…? M-21 was too old to study as a student. 

"It'll be Seira cooking breakfast." M-21's lips were pursed, his gaze not on them. 

He walked past them and went in without pausing. 

Takeo and Tao peered around the door frame and saw Seira wearing a pink apron, a pan in hand, other pans sizzling in front of her on the stove. 

She turned her head towards them, and gave them a small nod. "M-21. Takeo. Tao." 

"Hey." M-21 kept going towards the kitchen area and switched the kettle on. Once he'd done that, he started rooting around one of the cupboards, taking out cups.

Tao went in first and he waved at Seira. "Morning!"

"Take a seat," M-21 said, not looking back at them, and Takeo glanced at where the cutlery was set on the table. It was set out for seven people. Had Frankenstein come back?

There didn't seem to be anything else to do but what M-21 told them to. Takeo and Tao sat opposite each other, covering each other's blind spot – Takeo's eyes were on the kitchen area while Tao's were the door they'd come through. 

"What do you want to drink?" M-21 asked, pouring the hot water into a cup. 

"Tea," seemed to be a safe choice, Tao asking for the same thing and Takeo watched M-21 put some bags into the other cups. 

By the time M-21 brought the cups over, Seira was scooping what she'd cooked into plates and bringing them to the table. There was one large bowl that Takeo had seen the day before and had the feeling would be filled with ramen. He'd seen Tao's reaction to it; he had to admit it didn't taste anything like what he'd had before, but the same could be said for everything else that had been on the table as well. 

Takeo heard a soft tread approaching from behind him but Tao didn't tense, only looking mildly interested until he broke out a grin. Not someone to worry about, then. "Yooo, Regis!" Tao greeted, waving. 

So that's who that was. That left one person to arrive (unless Frankenstein had come back). 

"Good morning." Regis took the seat next to Takeo. 

M-21 set a cup down of milk in front of Regis with a smirk. "Yours." 

Regis sniffed, picking it up. "At least you remember what I like."

The smirk only widened, M-21 seemingly not put off by that answer. "Ah? You couldn't reach the top cupboard while I was away?" 

Regis scowled at M-21 and Takeo watched the exchange between them, still unsure how to categorise what they were doing. The two had been the same at dinner, exchanging insults and glares like most people exchanged words, but the atmosphere was far different than what Takeo was used to in the DA-5. While they constantly snapped at each other, there was no threat there, neither of them prepared to come to blows. They sparred with their words, neither of them moving for the kill when they won a point, content to back off and start again from the beginning. 

Takeo could see Tao's interest in what they were doing too, his eyes quick and in constant movement, hands wrapped around his cup. He couldn't tell what Tao was thinking though, no trace of a smirk on his face. 

"Hmph. My height doesn't bother me."

Frankenstein's master walked in a minute later and M-21 and Regis' bickering didn't change. There was no reaction from him either as he walked past them and stood in front of one of the machines in the kitchen, pressing a button on it. The machine whirred, spitting out a dark liquid. From the smell… Coffee? 

As Frankenstein's master did that, Seira carried the large bowl to the centre of the table. Takeo peeked and he'd been right – there was ramen was in the bowl. The soup was more the shade of the noodles this time, not as red. 

The two finally settled down, glaring at each other across the table when Frankenstein's master went to sit with his cup.

The quiet lasted for fifteen seconds.

Takeo wasn't sure how M-21 and Regis had been able to eat with how they constantly sniped at each other. They ate faster than Takeo, who attempted to struggle with the chopsticks again, mimicking how the others were doing it. When that failed, the food slipping back to his plate over and over, he gave up and used the fork instead. 

The space to the right of Frankenstein's master stayed empty. No-one commented on it. 

It didn't take long for all the food to be eaten, even M-21's and Regis' bickering calming down. Regis cleared the table afterwards, and when M-21 jerked his head at them to follow, Takeo and Tao went after him. 

They exited the dining room and M-21 grunted before saying anything. "I've got work and the others have classes," he explained, looking at them. 

…Was…he saying what Takeo thought he was saying? That couldn't be right. He had to be interpreting that wrong. 

"Wait," Tao said, jerking back a little in surprise, "you're leaving us alone here?"

So he wasn't the only one thinking that. They had to both be wrong, that M-21 had missed something out. The two of them couldn't leave the house, not when the Union had probably already sent agents to investigate their deaths; there was too much chance of being seen and identified. 

When M-21 nodded, Takeo stared at him. They were strangers - with their history in the Union and after only knowing each other for a few hours (barring M-21), the rest of the house trusted them alone in their house? There hadn't been any suspicious looks thrown their way; were they really trusted here? 

Which...considering the person in front of them telling this in the first place... Maybe it wasn't so strange for the household after all. 

M-21 snorted. "I've got a job to do and..." He shrugged. "I think they like it there. I don't know why else they'd keep going."

"Because learning's a fun thing to do and school's mandatory," Tao quipped. 

M-21's lips twitched. "From what I'd heard the other students say, it's _not_ fun."

"Like I said, mandatory." Tao hummed. "If you're worried about us, we won't starve."

They wouldn't be able to, not with the amount they'd eaten in the last twelve hours. 

"There's more food in the fridge," M-21 said, tilting his head towards the living room. 

"How much do you _keep_ here?" Takeo asked, incredulous, his eyebrows raised. He had just been able to finish what was there and there was _more_?

"Enough for us and the children," M-21 said, snorting. "Frankenstein's trying to get them to eat less junk food."

The children also hadn't paid any attention to Frankenstein's suggestions, so as much as Frankenstein could do with a lab, it was comforting to know there were things he couldn't.


	2. Chapter 2

When the house was silent, the occupants gone, Takeo and Tao looked at each other. They really had been left alone in the house. No second glance had been given to them or any warnings about stepping out of line and it was…weird, to say the least. 

"It must be nice having a job that doesn't involve killing people," Tao mused. 

"Mm." It was different to what Takeo had gotten used to. 

"Anyway." Tao shook his head. "Explore the house?" he suggested, putting his hands behind his head. "Maybe they're keeping an eye on us with cameras."

Takeo nodded. They hadn't been able to check the night before - there had been too many people walking around. 

The first place they checked was the living room and Takeo watched as Tao started peering under paintings. Tao's attention was caught by the fish for a short while, cooing at them before moving elsewhere. 

"Can you see anything?" Tao asked, looking into corners and cupboards in the kitchen. 

"No." Nothing stood out to his eyes, no reflections or anything that seemed out of place. 

"That's just _weird_ ," Tao muttered, shaking his head. "They're powerful and rich, but they don't have cameras or anything?"

Apart from the intercom, but there wasn't any point saying that - Tao already knew about it. "Maybe they don't have to worry about burglars." Not if they could take care of them themselves. 

"Heh, I guess. Still," Tao said, puffing air thought his lips, staring up at the lights, "the Union buildings are filled to the brim with cameras - just 'cause they can protect themselves, doesn't mean they shouldn't be careful." 

Especially with the lab hidden underground. 

"Still can't see anything." Tao turned to him. "Move on?"

Takeo nodded and they walked out the living room. 

Tao looked up the corridor, frowning. "Wow…" he murmured, "they cleaned the floor up well…" 

...How much had he been bleeding? Takeo couldn't remember much apart from trying to drag one more breath into his lungs and then another, feeling his hot blood trail over his skin.

"What happened, anyway?" Tao asked, lifting his head to look at him, running a hand through his hair, giving Takeo a brief glimpse of his eyes. 

"That...was Frankenstein," Takeo said, his skin prickling at the sheer _memory_ of the heavy aura that had lashed out from the man. 

Tao tilted his head, stopping in front of him. "I got that much," he said with a huff. "What did he do?" 

Takeo exhaled, trying to think how to put what he'd experienced into words. "He can turn his aura into spears." That's what it seemed like, and the only way Takeo could explain it. Sensing auras was something Takeo was used to; auras given physical presence was not.

Tao's eyebrows rose. "Huh, yeah, that would explain your injures but no weapons being around." He hummed, holding his palm out in front of him. Takeo watched, unsure what Tao was going to do. Tao's cables snaked out from under his sleeve, going down Tao's wrist and curling around Tao's fingers. 

Takeo never questioned where Tao's cables came from - so long as they came when Tao needed them, he didn't care. 

"I wonder if I'd be able to do that…" 

"That's not your au-" Oh. _That's_ what Tao was doing. 

There were three cables out now and they twisted together, merging until they were one smooth, thick cable. The tip looked like it was melting, sharpening to a point. 

Tao made the cable move like a snake, rising it up, its 'head' narrowing until it was like an arrow's point and then weaved it towards Takeo. 

Takeo held out a hand for it, and when the cable reached it, Tao prodded the centre of his palm with the flat side. Takeo could feel the press of the blade though it didn't break his skin before Tao nodded, withdrawing it, the cable unfurling into three again. 

"That could be useful later…" Tao muttered, the cables disappearing up his sleeve. "But I need to check them out first before using them in a fight…" He glanced at him. "Wanna spar once we find a place to do it?" 

"Yeah," Takeo said, nodding. He felt well enough now for that. And maybe… "Do you think we should ask M-21?" He would know the best place to spar.

Tao slapped a fist down into his open palm. "Ah! Great idea! The faster I know how he fights the better!"

That…wasn't what he meant, but Takeo wouldn't object to sparring with M-21 if he wanted to either. 

"And then I can find out more about his transformation," Tao continued once his cables was gone, shaking his wrist.

"His…what?" Takeo couldn't have heard that right. M-21 was experimental material – he shouldn't _have_ the ability to transform. 

But Tao was nodding, his hair flipping at the movement. "His transformation – it's different from ours," he said, wagging his fingers at Takeo. "It's like Jake's - he didn't need to take a pill for his and it just covered his hands." One side of his mouth curled up. "It was furrier than Jake's too."

Even with that description, it wasn't detailed enough for Takeo to guess what it looked like.

"Anyway," Tao said, shaking his head, "we'll ask when he gets back?" 

"Yeah."

Tao started walking again, opening the closest door and he poked his head into the room. His whispered "woah" drew Takeo's attention and he peered over Tao's head. 

Describing the room as 'grand' was an understatement: it was at least three times bigger than Takeo's room with a four-poster bed in the centre, a chandelier shimmering above it, throwing sunlight over bright walls. Comparing the drabber carpet in the hallway to the plush white one in this room, this room hadn't seen that much use.

But that seemed to be the only things in the room, the walls bare, no dressers or wardrobes in sight. There _was_ a door leading elsewhere to their left; it didn't look like the en-suite door in Takeo's room, but maybe it was a fancier one. 

"Do you wanna bet this is Frankenstein's or his master's room?"

There was no contest. "His master's." Takeo saw Tao lift a foot and he grabbed Tao's collar before the other man took a step into the room. 

"Awk! Takeo!" Tao hopped in an attempt to regain his balance, his flailing hand almost smacking Takeo in the face. 

"We are _not_ going into that room," Takeo hissed, tugging Tao back. 

"Why not?" Tao protested, still flailing, though it was more for the act of flailing rather than trying to get out of his grasp. He followed Takeo's tug, trying to keep upright.

"Because I'm not seeing Frankenstein's reaction when he finds out we'd been in his master's room." It wasn't a threat to Frankenstein's master's life, but it was a threat to his privacy, which Takeo was sure Frankenstein would take the same way: very seriously. Even though he wasn't back yet, Takeo would rather not risk _any_ chance of angering him. 

Tao stopped struggling, looking at him over his shoulder. 

"I might have been able to beat Frankenstein with the D drug," he said, answering his silent question, "but I said I would kill his master afterwards." And Tao had seen the result of that.

"Ah…okay…" Tao patted Takeo's hand. "Got it."

Takeo let go and when Tao stepped towards the door, it was to close it, nothing more. 

"Right." Tao slapped his hands together. "Next room?"

Takeo nodded, eyeing the door next to it. What would they find there?

The room was far smaller than Frankenstein's master's, closer in size to Takeo's; it was also more lived in with a few landscape pictures on the wall, books filling every available space on shelves and bookcases. On the bedside table was a book, a blank sheet of paper and a pen next to it. 

"Frankenstein's room," they said together. 

They left that room alone as well. So they knew where six out of the seven bedrooms were now – M-21 had told them where Seira's room was but they hadn't been to that floor yet. 

The rest of the doors on the floor led to spacious cupboards filled with towels or linen (including the entrance to the lab) that could fit three people and there were a bathroom further down from them as well. 

They knew what bedrooms to avoid, silently agreeing not to go inside them now, when they went upstairs and Takeo opened the first room that had been left ajar. 

He raised his eyebrows at the row of computers in the room, black and shiny, at odds from the more traditional rooms they'd just seen. 

He heard Tao squeak and he was too slow to stop Tao from worming his way into the room.

"H-hey-!"

Tao was already taking off one side of the closest computer's tower. "Let's see what you're made of, hmm?" he purred, peering into it, resting a hand on top of it. 

Takeo saw the second Tao froze, his eyes going wide while his jaw dropped. "Are you kid – no way!"

"Tao…?" Takeo eyed him. What was wrong with the computers? Had he found something in them? 

Tao's head popped up, flailing a hand, saying something too fast for Takeo to understand. "They have-" He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Takeo," he said in a calmer tone, "the _Union_ only just upgraded to these parts. In fact," –Tao ducked down again- "I haven't _seen_ this motherboard before!"

"They're that good, huh?" Takeo said, keeping the door open so they would hear if anyone came back early as he walked in. 

Tao stuck his tongue out, not taking his comment to heart. "'Good' doesn't cover it! This is more 'god-like'!" He huffed, replacing the panel. "Now to see how these babies run." Tao switched the computer on. "Hey," he said, drumming his fingers on the table, "do you think Frankenstein would give me any free parts he's got…?" His tone was wistful.

"Tao…" Takeo said, watching him. He knew how well Tao could multitask, seeing him work from the corner of his eyes a few times when they were on missions; he had also seen what Tao could be like when the topic of computers came up before Krans told him to shut up. "Focus."

Because he had been watching Tao, Takeo saw his minute flinch, his expression turning brittle. "Right, yeah, sorry…" Tao settled into the chair, staring at the screen, hands ready on the keyboard and mouse.

Shit, he hadn't meant for… "It's fine," he said, shaking his head. "You can-" Takeo wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.

Tao didn't seem to notice, frowning as he leaned towards his screen. "Wait… Really?"

"What is it?" Takeo could see what Tao was looking at, but he didn't see anything wrong – he couldn't read Korean at the speed Tao could either. 

"Can you switch on another computer?" Tao said instead of answering. 

Takeo did that, switching on the one next to Tao. 

"They can't be…"

Fuck. What had Tao found? Takeo made sure to stay out of Tao's way so not to distract him, tightening his hand on the back of Tao's chair. Did they have to get out straight away?

Tao rolled his chair to the other computer and did the same thing, muttering under his breath. They were bitten off phrases that made no sense in the string Takeo heard them in. 

When he was done, Tao leaned back in the chair, his expression dazed. "They're using this… They have all this power…and they're using them for _games_?"

Oh. Takeo's tense shoulders eased and the knot of fear in his stomach abated. It hadn't been something serious like he'd thought. "That's it?"

Tao stilled, glancing at him for a second, and then dropped his gaze. "It's a waste. If I had this at my fingertips, well." He shook his head, a tiny smirk curling one corner of his mouth. "I could do _so much_." He made a grumbling sound, other things flashing up on the screen. 

"Hmm, that's all there is so…" Tao clicked a few buttons and the computer powered down with a cheery jingle. He rolled towards the other pc and did the same. "Let's go," he said, beaming at Takeo as he bounced to his feet. "We've got the rest of the house to explore!" 

Tao was out the room before Takeo could say anything. 

"Ah, Tao," Takeo said, going after him. 

"Mmhm?" Tao didn't turn around, dipping into another room. 

…Fuck. "Sorry about earlier." 

He still didn't turn around. "S'all good, don't worry about it; I'm used to it."

Takeo winced. "I shouldn't have said it."

Tao paused and looked at him from over his shoulder. "You're…apologising?"

He nodded. "Yeah." 

"Oh." Tao blinked, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, cool, I guess." He shook his head. "C'mon, we've still got everywhere else to look." 

When Tao gave him a hesitant smile, Takeo returned it and they started trying to find cameras again.

-

M-21 raised his eyebrows at Takeo's question, his jacket still slung over his shoulder. "You want to what...?"

"Spar," Takeo repeated. He'd left Tao in 'their' room, muttering over a couple of plugs to watch the scenery from the balcony to give him some space. It was quiet where they were, only a few cars passing by every so often and his mind had drifted towards Teira, how she was doing. M-21 seemed to be the last to arrive, Takeo hearing thumping and laughter below long before M-21 came up the stairs. 

"Hn..." M-21 studied him. "Why do you want to spar with _me_?" 

Takeo blinked, taking a second to realise what M-21 was implying. As a member of the DA-5, his strength should be stronger than M-21's to the point that a spar would be pointless. The result should always be the same with Takeo the winner. 

_Should_. 

M-21 had proven himself full of surprises, from what Tao had told him. 

"Tao mentioned you could transform…?"

M-21 didn't say anything, and then nodded. "Yeah. It's not much," he said with a shrug. There was a twist to M-21's mouth that Takeo couldn't interpret. "It's only my hands." 

"It's still a transformation." Which made M-21 stronger than what his file said, and how had he managed to hide that from the scientists? After every mission the DA-5's data was collected and recorded, their development tracked. They wouldn't have been able to hide _anything_ from the scientists. 

"Hm…" M-21's gaze wandered and then focused back on Takeo. "With you, or you and Tao?"

"I think just me," Takeo said. He didn't think Tao would join in even if they asked; Tao hadn't joined any of the sparring matched they had in the DA-5 unless forced to by Krans. That and Tao had seemed more interested in finding more out about M-21 first than seeing how well his sharpened cables worked. "Tao wanted to see how you fight." 

The apprehensive look that snapped onto M-21's face made Takeo pause. 

"Why?"

"Well…" Takeo tugged on a loose lock of hair. "Tao likes collecting data."

M-21's lips thinned, his eyes narrowing. 

That probably wasn't the best way of putting it… "He does it so he knows what to expect," Takeo tried again. "Tao directed us when Krans didn't; he knew our strengths and weaknesses and how to put us together so we wouldn't fail the mission.

"So he wants to know how you fight in case something comes up." And it was the Union they were talking about - something probably would, if they hadn't hidden their tracks well enough. The Union didn't want modified humans that weren't under their control or anyone else finding them and gaining their data… Which had already happened, hah…

M-21 nodded slowly and then exhaled. "Sure. I need to get changed anyway."

Takeo smiled. "Thanks. I'll go get Tao." 

Tao was sitting cross-legged in the centre of the room when Takeo opened the door, scattered pieces of _something_ surrounding him; they looked too big to have come from plugs. Tao's head jerked up, his eyes wide and he scrabbled to cover what he was working on. 

When Tao saw it was him, he huffed, relaxing. "Whew, Takeo, you gotta knock next time – you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He held his free hand over his chest.

"Knock on my own room," Takeo said, trying to guess how Tao was, closing the door to hide the view. 

"Yep!" Tao set what was in his hands on the shirt beside his knee, wiping his hands on it as well. "What did he say?"

"He said it was fine." And Tao seemed to be fine as well. 

Tao beamed and got his feet. "Sweet!" He danced over to Takeo's side, his footwork precise and not disturbing what he'd laid on the floor, and he collected his laptop on the way out. 

M-21 nodded to them when they emerged from Takeo's room. "It's this way," he said, going down the stairs.

They followed him and Takeo wondered where it could be. It couldn't be the living room, not when the children were still there. Or Frankenstein's master's room. The garden? They would be seen; it was too much of a risk even if they held back. 

So where was M-21 taking them? It had to be the lab; that was the only place Takeo could think of. Was it all right for them to walk in like that? 

They turned away from the living room when they reached the bottom of the stairs, going deeper into the house. 

M-21 led them to the lab entrance hidden in one of the linen cupboards. Once they were inside, he placed a hand on the wall. Tao still twitched at something Takeo couldn't hear, turning his head towards where M-21 had placed his hand.

"Would you be able to key us into the security?" Tao asked. "Frankenstein hadn't done that before he disappeared."

"…Ah." M-21 shook his head. "I don't know how to do that; Frankenstein did that for me."

M-21 put his hands on the shelves in front of them and pushed with a soft grunt. The shelves gave way like a set of double doors with only token resistance. On the other side was metallic walls, leading a short way to elevator doors.

Tao quirked a grin at him. "It's fine."

"C'mon." M-21 walked towards the elevator. "Before the children burst out of the living room."

It did seem like something that could happen from the little Takeo had seen of them inside the house. 

The doors shut behind them with a soft screech as they walked in. 

"How many floors are there?" Tao asked, peering around them, above the door and where the buttons would normally be as the elevator went down. 

"I don't know," M-21 said with a shrug. "I haven't been here that long either; I just know about the first floor."

"Hmm." Takeo _knew_ Tao would be investigating what as soon as he could.

The doors opened to more metallic walls and sprawling corridors that looked like they could span the entire street. Like last time, there was no-one else in the corridors, staying silent.

Tao squinted up at the ceiling and so did Takeo as M-21 led them into the lab. No cameras here either? 

M-21 took them down the left route instead of the centre, and peering down the right and middle corridors didn't give Takeo anything other than more corridors and doors. Was it really just the five of them there, or was the house a front? If it was, they should have seen other people by now.

M-21 opened a door and the lights flickered on when they stepped in. The room was about twice the size of Takeo's, large white tiles covering every available space with nothing else in the room. 

"Wow, this room's just for sparring?" Tao asked, opening up his laptop. 

"It's a spare room," M-21 said with a shrug. "Frankenstein's got a lot of them." 

Tao nodded, leaning on a wall, the laptop held on the flat of his forearm as he typed something out. "Wanna double-check if the walls can hold? Don't want to trash the place and bring the house around our ears, heh." 

M-21 snorted, clenching a loose fist. "Frankenstein wouldn't have built something imperfect." 

… _Was_ it only the five of them here, then? And Frankenstein had built this place himself? What for? Only to enhance himself? Or was he part of something bigger?

M-21 watched Takeo through his hair, holding up his now unclenched fist. Between one second and the next, M-21's nails lengthened and sharpened, fur rippling out over the back of his hand, disappearing under the cuff of his top. His transformation was as Tao had said: thought-based and furrier than Jake's. The claws were shorter than Takeo expected, only looking slightly longer than human nails compared to Jake's, who looked like someone had grew knives out of every available part of skin.

Takeo didn't say anything as M-21 span around; he did blink when M-21 slashed down, only taking one step towards the back wall. He sucked in a breath at the sudden weight of power he felt, the rush of wind pulling at his clothes and hair and he felt the impact of something crashing into the wall, heard the screech of scraped tile. 

"Oooh, nice!" Tao said, clapping his free hand on his hip.

M-21 didn't turn around, keeping his back facing Tao. "Tch. It didn't do anything."

It hadn't, but from the sound of it, Takeo had expected the wall to be _gone_ , only a crater in its place. There wasn't a scratch left on it. What were the tiles _made_ of?

"Is anyone going to investigate that?" Tao asked, glancing up at the ceiling. 

"No," M-21 said, shaking his head. "It's soundproof." 

"Okay, cool." Tao nodded. "Takeo," he said, looking at him, "you're up." 

He ran towards the wall and when he was close enough, he punched it with his full strength. 

Nothing. 

His knuckles felt the impact, stinging for a second before he healed. 

"They'll hold," Takeo said, studying the unscathed wall. If they didn't use their transformations, there shouldn't be any problems. 

"Got it! Hmm." When Takeo turned around, Tao was tapping on his laptop, tapping a beat on the floor with his toe. "It'd be better if you didn't use your transformation," he advised. "I'm recording this and there's only so many frames it can save per second. I need to know how you fight first."

Made sense; he didn't want to test Frankenstein's D-drug anyway, especially since he didn't have a way to replenish his supply.

He turned to M-21, his lips pursed. After a second, M-21 flexed his hand and his transformation slithered back, the fur looking like it was being sucked into his skin, his nails shortening and blunting again.

"Okay," Tao said, "let's get this started!"


	3. Chapter 3

Tao clapped his hands, cheering, after the spar ended as Takeo and M-21 panted. Takeo had won that, but not with ease. He was used to Shark or Hammer's strategy of overwhelming their opponent with their strength; M-21 had taken him by surprise a few times. Even though he'd found M-21 to transform, his own speed was just enough to stay one step ahead. And that was it. "All riiiight!"

Takeo held his hand out for M-21, who stared at it for a second and then gave Takeo a slow look before reaching for it. As Takeo pulled M-21 to his feet, Tao hummed and more tapping filled the air. 

"That was great!" Tao continued typing. "But...hm." 

M-21's hand tightened around Takeo's, his gaze assumedly on Tao, before they let go of each other and Takeo turned around to look. Tao had slid down the wall at some point, his laptop nestled safely on his lap and he was peering at them over it. "You've got a sharp tongue, M-21." 

"What about it." M-21's shoulders tensed, his lips thin. 

"Haha, nothing, nothing bad!" Tao chuckled, waving his hands in the air in front of him, palms facing them. "It was a compliment! I was just wondering if you could use that during a fight." 

M-21's wary stare said he wasn't sure if he could trust Tao's words. M-21 was acting like he'd never received a compliment before in his life. …And maybe he hadn't, not unless it was followed by a new round of experiments. 

"I could try..." 

And with what Takeo had seen of M-21's tongue against Shark and Regis, the next spar with M-21 would be a _lot_ different from the one they'd just had.

"Great!" Tao gave him a thumbs up. "Okay..." Tao said, focusing on his laptop again. "Now that's someone close combat, and Takeo's long-ranged... Regis is also close combat, and with me at the helm, we'll be unstoppable."

There was one person missing from Tao's assessment. "What about Seira?" Takeo asked. There was no need asking Frankenstein or his master; they didn't need support in a fight. 

Tao's tapping slowed, and he frowned into his screen. "I don't know how she fights." 

Takeo and Tao looked at M-21, who blinked at them. "I don't know either - I just know she's a noblesse and she's the one who killed Hammer."

"She did _what_?" Tao's jaw dropped and he wasn't alone. Hammer and Shark were better at fighting than Takeo, most of their spars ending with Shark or Hammer as the winner as Shark had been built for close combat and Hammer had more power than him. It wasn't something anyone could do with ease. 

"She killed Hammer," M-21 repeated in the same tone. "Frankenstein took out Takeo, and his master took out everyone else; there was no-one else who could have done it."

"Oh..." That...Takeo hadn't thought about it, assuming that Frankenstein or his master had taken care of Hammer before meeting him. 

"She doesn't act like she'd been in a fight..." Tao mused. "How'd she do it?"

M-21 shrugged. 

Tao smirked. "Okay, okay, got it - I'll ask her later." 

Tao got to his feet, closing his laptop and dusting himself off. 

"You're not going to spar?" M-21 asked, glancing between them. 

"Nah." Tao shook his head. "My strength's in information gathering and using it to increase efficiency; I'm not much of a fighter. And it wouldn't be fair for me to fight one of you fresh." He quirked a grin at him.

M-21 didn't say anything to that, nodding. As they left the room, the lights switching off behind them, Tao asked, "So, what did they do to you? I haven't seen that many transformations that furry and I thought Crombell tended towards scaly?"

M-21 slowed, a scowl flashing over his features at the scientist's name. "They-" M-21 sighed, running a hand through his hair. He stayed silent, his lips pursed. 

It almost seemed like M-21 wouldn't answer Tao's question when he said, "I have a werewolf's heart."

Takeo's eyebrows rose. That hadn't been anything _close_ to what he'd been considering. 

"Wha – How did Crombell get _that_?" Tao paused, blinking as he lifting a hand to tap his chin. "I didn't think they existed, but that explains your transformation – and we're living in a house filled with 'vampires', heh. So it shouldn't be too surprising. I wonder what else really exists…"

"I only know about 'vampires' and werewolves," M-21 said with another shrug. His hand drifted up towards his own chest before M-21 yanked it down again, his hand curled into a fist.

"Were the others in your series the same?"

M-21 stilled. "No." He narrowed his eyes at Tao. "And why do you care?" 

Tao raised his hands as a calming gesture. "Conversation, partially. Also curious. But if you don't want to talk about them, that's cool too."

A snort. "Like you'd want to listen."

"…We're listening now," Takeo said softly in the wake of the statement. 

M-21 studied them like it was the first time he'd seen them. "You want to…?"

"Yup!" Tao nodded, grinning. "We can start right now if you want!" 

"I need a shower first," Takeo said, nudging him. And so did M-21.

Tao's smile turned sheepish. "Oh, yeah. After the shower?" 

M-21 nodded. "Yeah."

They left the room and when they exited the elevator, they listened for the children before leaving the cupboard, making sure everything was in place. They left each other when they reached Takeo's room. 

"Where can I stand?" Takeo asked wryly as he stripped out of his sweaty top, not going near Tao's workspace. 

"Over there." Tao indicated a safe path with a sweep of his arm - it was a circle around where Tao had been sitting in the middle. "You'll be fine."

And it led to the bathroom. Good. Takeo collected some fresh clothes for his shower and went in.

-

He heard Tao humming when he exited the bathroom, still towel-drying his hair. He made it to his bed and sat down on it, watching Tao work.

"What are you making?" He'd gotten used to seeing Tao dismantle technology on missions, though he'd never asked what he was making or why. Doing so would attract attention to both of them.

"Cameras, just in case." 

Takeo nodded. They hadn't found cameras but that didn't mean the household was hiding anything, especially with the lab downstairs; it wouldn't hurt to be careful. Takeo started finger combing his hair, starting at the tips. "Where did you get the pieces from?"

"Oh, around," Tao said, his lips twitching. "They won't be missed."

Takeo hoped so. 

When Takeo was finished with his hair, they left the room to meet with M-21.

-

Takeo tilted his head at Tao as he finished maintaining his gun when the other man slipped into his room again; Tao had said he was going to ask Seira if she wanted to spar.

"She declined; she didn't say why," Tao said with a shrug. 

They couldn't make her spar with them if she didn't want to. He nodded, throwing away the used materials. 

Tao didn't leave when he started stripping out his top. Takeo peered at Tao in question when he pulled the top off of his arms. Tao was fiddling a little, glancing at him before looking away again. 

"Staying here tonight again?" he asked, starting on his trousers. That was the only reason Takeo could think of for why Tao hadn't left yet.

"Well...if you don't mind?" Tao still wasn't quite meeting his eyes.

Takeo smiled. "I don't." 

"Okay!" Tao beamed at him, a short laugh escaping his lips. "Lemme go get changed."

-

They had been in bed for five seconds when Tao said, "Put your arm around me."

Takeo studied him, not moving his arm. "Why...?" That had come out of nowhere.

The moonlight coming through the blinds picked out Tao's pout. "Because I'm cold and I can feel your heat from over here." 

It wasn't hard to and they could use the blanket if Tao wanted to. He would have asked for that if he did, though. "You would warm up eventually." But Takeo did as Tao asked, placing an arm around Tao's shoulders. He _did_ feel cold against Takeo's skin, even through their clothes. 

Tao hummed, wriggling closer. "That's better."

Tao's breath puffed against his collarbone every time Tao breathed, and he could feel Tao's muscles slowly relax under him.

Takeo wrapped his free hand around his gun under his pillow and waited to drift to sleep.

-

Takeo woke to humming the next morning, Tao sitting in the centre of the floor again, a pile of technology on top of the shirt this time.

"Completed cameras?" Takeo asked, sitting up with a grunt. They looked the same to the ones he'd seen Tao making the day before. 

"Mmhm!" Tao placed another one on the shirt. 

"How many do you have?" He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced when he tugged on tangles. He started brushing them out with his fingers. He should ask M-21 if he had a brush he could borrow… 

"Enough." Tao stared at the pile, his lips pursing. "The bare minimum anyway - I'll fill in the blind spots later."

"Okay." He'd found one knot that he wasn't sure _how_ it had formed in the first place and he started teasing it out. 

Tao grinned, watching Takeo wrestling with his hair. "Need help?"

He sighed. "I can handle it." And had been doing it for years already; Tao knew that. 

"Sure, sure." Tao chuckled, picking up a few pieces that were around his legs, beginning a new camera.

-

"Where do we start?" Takeo asked, hearing the front door close for the final time. They would wait before he and Tao started putting the cameras up, giving the house some time in case any of them came back because they'd forgotten something.

"I'd have liked the lab," Tao mused, stroking his chin with his fingers, "but I haven't been able to hack into Frankenstein's security yet." Huh. That was surprising. "It's really good! So bottom floor up, I think," Tao said, nodding. "There's more chance of stuff happening down there."

"All right."

-

Takeo and Tao stared at Frankenstein's master's bedroom door.

"We're not going in there," Takeo said. 

"Nope. Next area."

-

Tao came into Takeo's room, sighing with his shoulders slumped. He'd disappeared a while ago when the rest of the household had come back, muttering about getting something to eat.

Takeo blinked at him. "What's wrong?" That didn't seem normal for him. 

"Seira wouldn't let me have a snack when I asked, since it's right before dinner." He flopped into the chair, draping himself over the back to keep facing Takeo. 

Ah...

"But it'd smelled so nice…"

That he didn't doubt. "Maybe you can have one later? It should be all right then, shouldn't it?"

"I hope so!" Tao perked up – and then flopped down again. "But I have to waaait now!"

-

"Hey, M-21," Tao said after everyone had been shooed away from the dining table by Regis. The three of them had wandered over to the balcony, staying there. "Do you know what Frankenstein'll have us do when he gets back?"

It had been two days since anyone had last seen the man and still no-one was worried about him. Takeo and Tao had set up all the cameras Tao had made and after that…that was it. Tao stayed on his laptop, keeping an eye on the news and radio channels, and Takeo had already maintained his gun. There wasn't much else for them to do except for Tao to find more information on Teira. 

M-21 quirked an eyebrow at them. 

Tao shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't think I'd ever complain about having nothing to do but I guess I was just used to keeping busy, you know?"

M-21 nodded, exhaling. "He'll probably get you to help look after the school." 

Hm, that didn't seem too bad. Looking after children was a lot different from killing them. And that way, he would have some money when they got Teira out.

-

Fuck. _Fuck_. Takeo thudded his back on the headboard, ignoring the flare of pain that caused, his hands fisted on the linen, his eyes squeezed shut.

He heard his door open and shit, he hadn't locked the door behind him, had he? 

It didn't matter; he knew those footsteps without opening his eyes, felt the dip in the mattress, felt the tight band of metal around his heart as he tried to keep his thoughts focused away from _that_.

His ragged breathing filled his ears, all his muscles locked up.

Takeo sucked in a breath when he felt light fingertips skirt his knuckles. He wanted to snatch his hand back, get away from the touch, but that meant moving his hand and he couldn't unfurl his fingers. 

The fingertips stayed on the back of his hand, growing bolder with his inaction, pressing down, making sure he knew they were there. 

"Don't-" he bit out past clenched teeth. " _Don't_."

"Takeo," Tao said softly. 

"I said _don't_ ," Takeo hissed, his hand going tighter. "How do I know you're-" His throat closed up and he trembled. _Fucking-_

"...I'm...?"

"You're Tao!" he spat, snapping his eyes open to glare at him. "How do I know you're not like Te - Ar - _her_ -" And it was getting hard to speak, hard to _breathe_ , the band encompassing his entire ribcage now and squeezing like it was trying to snap bone. 

"I'm n - shit, you're not going to believe that, are you?" Tao exhaled and ran his free hand through his own hair, watching him. Takeo could see the tension around his eyes and lips that said he was worried. 

"No." How could he believe what Tao said, not after finding out all his memories of Te - _her_ was all a lie and she'd been laughing at how easy he'd been to manipulate every time they'd met? "I can't trust my own memories so how the fuck am I supposed to know if what you say is true?" His words were tight, clipped, because that was something he could control, something he knew he could do. 

Tao's hand wasn't moving from his own. "Then what _will_ you trust?"

...What _could_ he trust? Takeo couldn't trust his own memories, _she_ had proved that, and he couldn't trust anyone else's either, not when he'd been lied to and laughed at for months on end. 

"Nothing," he said, his teeth still gritted. 

"Nothing?" Tao repeated, his voice soft.

"I - _can't_." Takeo glowered at him. "You could lie to me like _she_ did."

"Okay, you got a point…" Tao blew air up through his lips, ruffling his fringe. "I still have records of our missions on my laptop."

"And?" What use was that? 

"So if you don't trust your or my memories, can you trust physical evidence?"

Tao had to be talking about video recordings. Takeo _wanted_ to believe him, but… "You can manipulate them." That was Tao's speciality. 

"True," Tao said, his head bobbing. "But not my reports. And the Union wanted me to keep all the feeds for double-checking in case something had went wrong."

Takeo paused, taking that information in. That could work. The Union wanted accurate results and if something had went wrong, they could pin down who to blame. "I…"

Tao didn't try to interrupt him, his hand steady on Takeo's. 

M-21 was right – Tao was the only person he had left. He shouldn't – couldn't shove him away that easily. 

"…Okay…"

Tao beamed, and petted his hand. "Don't move, all right?" 

Takeo nodded, and Tao dashed off to the other side of the room. He couldn't move even if he wanted to anyway, not when he had to force his muscles to relax first. Takeo had managed to let go of the linen by the time Tao came back. 

Tao climbed into bed next to him, picking up Takeo's hand at the same time. Wait. Takeo tried to pull his hand away but Tao intertwined their fingers. "What to pick, what to pick…" Tao murmured as the laptop booted up. "Hm, I guess the simplest is always the best, huh? First mission together?" He glanced at him.

"Yeah." Takeo continued to stare at their hands, not sure if he should pull away. 

"…Is it uncomfortable?" 

Takeo shook his head. "No." It was just… Tao's hand was cool against his, and it was something real that he knew was there. It was just the _person_ he had a problem with, if he existed. "Our first mission is good."

"No, our first mission was _terrible_ ," Tao corrected with a wry smile. "We failed it."

They had, hadn't they? "Everyone had rushed in…" They had met an hour before the start of the mission, Yuri telling them these were their new teammates with a smile. And then when their mission started… 

Tao leaned back, settling into the bed. "You'd nearly killed Shark," Tao said with a snicker. "Too bad you hadn't."

"He leapt into my shot." At the last second, but the kill had been Takeo's. 

"Aha! There it is!" Tao tapped a few times and then turned his laptop towards Takeo so he could see the screen better. On it was a base on fire, scientists scrambling to get away and soldiers trying to protect them. The video was silent, but Takeo could hear Shark's laughter in his head as he watched the man slaughter whoever was in arms' reach, bright blood arcing into the air, leaving a red path splattered behind him. 

"Her," Tao said, pointing to a scientist that was in a group of three in front of Shark, groups of people between them. 

"One of the targets?" She didn't look like it, but they'd had a lot of missions after this one, and a large number of times, Takeo had followed Tao's instructions, only seeing the back of the target's head. 

It took two seconds for Shark to reach her, his dagger flashing down - at the last second he leaped away, whirling around to scream at something behind him. The scientist crumpled. 

"We got two out of five in that one," Tao said, closing the recording. 

"Because Shark was trying to kill _me_ instead." Takeo snorted. Shark had gotten a few hits in before Krans had yanked them apart, telling them if they had wanted to fight each other so much, they could fight _him_. Shark had tried to; he didn't the next time Krans 'offered'. 

"I thought we were going to get scrapped for sure."

He'd worried at the time as he waited for his healing to kick in. Te – his sister's life had been on the line and it would have been his fault. Except she'd never been in danger and he'd never been protecting her. 

"Okay… Uh." Tao turned to him. "Name a mission."

Takeo blinked, caught off guard. "Why?"

He got a quirked grin in response. "'Cause then I'm not suggesting everything. It might make things fairer?"

It could. Except he couldn't trust his own memories. 

But he could trust the camera recordings. "All right," he said, closing his eyes for a brief second. 

Tao squeezed his hand just hard enough to be felt. 

Takeo didn't squeeze back, trying to wrack his mind for a specific mission. They had gotten better at working together over time, Tao learning how to direct them and everyone else trusting his judgement more. Or learning how to stay out of each other's way.

And… Should he ask something Tao shouldn't know in case Tao had been told everything about him, or something both of them should know?

…Ah, what about _that_ memory? "Hm," Takeo said, trying to remember the specific details so Tao would know which mission he was talking about. "Pilliga forest in Australia, still on our first couple of missions; someone had snuck up on you."

Tao frowned, the space between his eyebrows creasing at the name; he grimaced a second later. "Ooh, yeah. I got shot in the shoulder; I was fast enough to dodge anything fatal but that _hurt_. First time I had to use my cables, hah," he added under his breath. 

It was…? Takeo hadn't known that… Except, did he really know that much about how much Tao had fought during their missions? 

"I was worried when you screamed," Takeo murmured. By then, hearing screams had become common place, but it had been a shock to hear a familiar voice scream directly in his ear, sending a jolt through his system. 

"Ooh?" Tao's eyebrows rose and a small smile grew on his face. It was a teasing one, not a full blown grin. "Is that why you started sticking close afterwards?"

"I…" Had he? "Krans told me to." But that didn't seem right, something not matching up.

"Mmhm." Tao squeezed his hand again as he started typing. "And he told you do that off mission as well?"

… "No, he hadn't." Takeo had thought he was following orders, but was that really the case? He'd kept an eye on Tao as best as he couldn't, keeping track of where he was until it had turned into a habit. 

"Well, it was fun having you next to me, even though you didn't say much; you made it less lonely."

Huh. That hadn't been an admission Takeo had been expecting from him. 

"Gotcha." Takeo focused on Tao at the exclamation. "Now to find the right – there."

Grey smoke obscured everything on the screen. It parted a few seconds later, revealing a hunched over Tao, pressing a hand to a bright wound in his shoulder. A few feet away lay a collapsed body, Tao's cables still wrapped around them. 

"Hm, I guess it's my turn again, huh?" 

"Yeah…" It wasn't needed as much, Takeo trusting Tao to be the person he thought he was. Though it wouldn't hurt to keep going either. He winced at the stabbing pain in his stomach, his wound reminding him it was still there. Or maybe it would. 

"You should get checked over first," Tao said, his hand curling tighter around Takeo's. 

"Y-yeah." He'd been able to ignore the pain for now but his injury was demanding to be seen to. 

"C'mon, let's go."

Taking a breath to brace himself, Takeo nodded and started to get out of bed.

-

Tao wouldn't stop snickering, half-leaning on Takeo as they left Frankenstein's lab, bellies full from all the ramen they had eaten.

"Okay, M-21, you got us good," Tao said, shaking his head. "Damn, you do that _every_ night?"

"So far, whenever Frankenstein's here."

How was he able to do that without being sick? Takeo felt if he moved too fast he would bring everything up again. 

"Gggh, we'll get used to it, I suppose." 

They were going to have to, if they were going to do that every night.

"Takeo…?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head at M-21 getting his attention. 

"Were…you being serious when you said that you would take my place in the experiment…?" There was a bit of a lost look on M-21's face. 

Oh. "Yeah." There hadn't been any need to think for his answer, just like when he'd first offered. 

"But…why?" M-21 looked like he was struggling was the knowledge, like he was waiting for someone to start laughing at him or take their words back. 

"Because you would do the same for us," Takeo said. To shoulder the burden so the other wouldn't be hurt if they could help it. And he and Tao were more durable than M-21, more able to take damage due to being modified later – which Takeo wasn't going to say out loud, not when he'd seen how M-21 reacted to _compliments_. 

M-21 stilled, staring back at him, his lips parted. "I – uh." He jerked his head away, his hair falling in front of his face. "Yeah." His voice had a slight quaver to it. 

They were on their floor and M-21 said, "I'll see you in the morning," before walking to his own room without waiting for a reply. 

Takeo and Tao shared a look and went back to Takeo's room. 

"That hadn't gone like I thought it would go," Tao said as they made their way to the bed.

"No." Takeo yawned, the sated feeling in his stomach fuelling his tiredness. "Sleeping here tonight?" he asked, all but wanting to flop into bed but knowing that was a bad idea. 

"Of course – someone's gotta make sure you rest." Tao helped lower him to bed. 

He huffed. "And you?"

Tao just smiled, lying down next to him. "You think _I_ can keep up after being filled to bursting point?"

…No, not really. 

They were silent for a while, Takeo dozing. There was something he needed to say though. He worked up the energy to speak, trying to keep his eyes open. "Hey." 

"Mm?"

"Thanks. For earlier."

"Heh, welcome."

Takeo reached forward and found Tao's fingers, intertwining them. That was the last thing he heard before he fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

There were fingers running through his hair. Only one section, with light tugs, but it was still strange, something Takeo wasn't used to. 

The hum of a laptop was also right by his ear. It wasn't hard to piece together who it was. 

The hand paused and lifted away. "Mornin'," Tao said. 

"Morning." Takeo didn't say anything for a few seconds, hearing Tao's typing resume. "I don't mind." 

He didn't move, trying not to think as Tao's typing slowed. "Really...?" Tao's voice was hesitant.

"Yeah."

"Okay." A soft intake of breath. "Cool." Takeo closed his eyes again when he felt Tao's fingers go through his hair once more.

-

Takeo blinked at the wad of cash Frankenstein had offered him and Tao. "Sir?"

Frankenstein's lips twitched. "There's no need to call me that." He didn't retract his hand. "Since I was otherwise detained for the last number of days, I apologise for the lack of clothing at your disposal."

"You're giving us money in apology?" Tao asked, taking the money from Frankenstein, flicking through it. It hadn't been too bad; they still had a few clean clothes left. Tao's eyebrows shot up. …How much had Frankenstein given them…?

"No." Frankenstein shook his head. "I'm giving you money to buy your own clothes." 

"Woah, really?" Tao beamed. "Thanks!"

Takeo studied Frankenstein. "Is it all right for us to leave the house?" The police were still calling for witnesses in the wake of the 'explosion'. 

Tao snickered, waving a hand. "There's no video footage of us." 

Which meant any he found had also been deleted. 

Frankenstein nodded. "And you're healed enough that I'm satisfied." 

Ah, that was good to hear. He'd been feeling better but hadn't wanted to push too hard. 

"C'mon!" Tao said, grabbing Takeo by the bicep and tugging him towards the door. "Time to go shopping!" 

"Ack-! Tao!" Tao didn't listen, not letting go of him.

-

It didn't take them long to find clothes shops and Tao dived into one, browsing the selection with vigour.

Takeo couldn't help but feel unsettled though, unused to doing something considered so 'normal', especially surrounded by so many people. There was a difference between doing that when he thought they would only stay in the area for a few days and staying there indefinitely. He fell back into habit, keeping his back to the wall, watching everyone around them, in case they had drawn any attention. They hadn't – there were a few people who took a second glance, but they weren't measuring, hostile looks.

"Hey, Takeo, how do I look?"

Tao had found striped tops of varying colours, a number of them draped over his arm while he wore a light blue and white one. He span around with his arms out so Takeo could see it all at all angles.

"They don't sell off-shoulder tops here?" Takeo asked, amused. That was what he'd expected Tao to go for first. 

"Do you know how hard those are to find?" Tao puffed up his cheeks. "I have to get those in bulk whenever I got lucky." 

He couldn't help but smile at Tao's reaction. "Ah, all right." 

Tao peered at him, then swept the room with a casual glance. "We're _both_ supposed to be getting clothes, remember?"

"I...haven't found anything I liked." But that was because-

"You haven't looked!" Tao ducked behind him and pushed him towards the racks. 

"Hey!" Dammit, that would draw attention!

"Go and find something." Tao kept pushing. "Or do you want _me_ to choose what you get?"

"Gck, no!" He'd done that once and that that was more than enough. Though, part of the reason why he had disliked them on sight was because of how bright the colours had been and how they would have made him stand out on a mission. 

"You _did_ know I bought them for when we were off mission, right?" Tao was studying his face.

"…No." Why hadn't he said that at the time?

"Then go." Tao gave him one final shove and when Takeo looked at him over his shoulder, flicked his hands at him, shooing him towards the racks again. "Or else I'll use up all the money and then we'll have to share."

"I thought you said Frankenstein had given us enough money to buy an entire floor?" Tao shouldn't be able to do that with just clothes. Technology, easily, but not clothes. 

"He did; my threat still stands." Tao crossed his arms and grinned, daring him to try it. 

"All right," Takeo said, shaking his head.

-

"Okaaay," Tao said, adjusting his hold on his bags. "I think we're done?"

Takeo slid his newly bought brush into a bag he already had and nodded. "Yeah." Underwear had been another item on the list –that Tao had made once they realised they needed one- and as far as Takeo was aware, everything had been checked off.

"Sweet." Tao bumped his elbow with his own. "So I – ooh, coffee shop!" 

The smell of the coffee hit Takeo before he saw the shop… Ah. 

Tao nudged him again when he didn't say anything. "We've got lots of money to spare – it'll be fine."

That wasn't why he was staring. "This is where I went with Shinwoo and Yuna." He hadn't realised they'd been going in this direction. 

Tao's eyebrows shot up. "Huh, weird. I came here with Ik-han." 

That…was a bit of a coincidence. Or maybe it wasn't. "Since the three of them are friends…" Takeo suggested, watching a group go into the entrance. 

"Yeah. We can ask them later." Tao shrugged. "Anyway! I need to remember what I ordered last so you can try it."

"And if I didn't have it because I didn't like it…?"

"Then you pick something else, of course." Tao shaded his eyes, squinting at the glass. "C'mon, before the queue gets any longer."

Judging by the groups of people converging towards the shop, they would have to be quick and Takeo followed Tao inside.

-

"Damn, that feels good." Tao set his bags down and started unpacking his purchases.

There was only one problem. 

"Why are you putting your clothes in my room?" Takeo stayed where he was, watching Tao put clothes into empty drawers. It wasn't that much of a deal to him –the room had more space than Takeo could ever fill- but… Tao had his own room. 

Tao didn't pause. "'Cause I spend way more time here than I do in my own. Especially sleeping. No point going all the way back to 'my' room when I can just keep my clothes here."

That made sense. "Fine." Takeo started unpacking his own stuff. "But… How will we know whose is whose?"

"Should be easy enough." Tao paused, holding a shirt they'd both bought. "Though the size'll help.

"If it's too big for me, then it's yours and vice versa." 

"How about we pick which drawers belong to who as well…" It might be a problem when their clothes were washed but for the moment it would help.

-

"Hey, Frankenstein," Tao said, approaching him. "can we get keyed into the security?"

Frankenstein blinked. "You are – no, of course you're not." He turned and indicated they follow with a tilt of his head. "Come. We'll do it right now." 

Frankenstein took them down into his lab, taking a right this time into one of the rooms. 

They were led to one machine on their left; it was smaller than the others, with a monitor on top. 

Frankenstein switched it on and both screens lit up, scrolling text appearing on the monitor, only for a second. 

"You merely have to place your hands here- "Frankenstein indicated the lower screen. "-and say a phrase."

"A phrase?" Tao asked. "Does it have to have anything specific?"

That had to be for the voice recognition. 

A shake of the head. "No. Just something for the machine to figure out your baseline."

"Hmm…" Tao said as he walked up to the machine. "Aha!" Tao snapped his fingers. "Got one!"

Tao put his hand on the lower panel and cleared his throat, a look of concentration growing on his face. "The giraffe drawing that I drew is a well-drawn drawing-" Takeo's eyebrows shot up when Tao started talking, the words sliding together, sounding far too similar. "-and the giraffe drawing that you drew is not – ah, shoot." Tao frowned, working his mouth. "So close!" 

Frankenstein chuckled, pressing a few things on the machine, making it hum and beep. "It was enough."

"Heh, all right." Tao stepped back, muttering the tongue twister under his breath. 

Takeo took Tao's place, putting a hand on the lower screen. He came up with a blank when he tried to think of something to say, however. "Uh, I'm not sure what to say." The wrong phrases Tao taught him came unbidden to his mind. "I'm not saying those either, Tao," he said in case Tao decided to give him suggestions. 

Spluttered laughter as a response. 

"There's no need for that," Frankenstein said, the machine beeping again. "You now have access to here."

Tao grinned. "All right, thanks!"

-

Tao followed Takeo into his…no, it was their room now, wasn't it? Tao spent more time in it than Takeo did.

They didn't exchange words as they stripped out of their clothes and changed into their night clothes.

They settled into bed, Tao not asking this time, and when Tao opened his mouth, Takeo wrapped his arm around Tao's shoulders. 

Tao stiffened under him, his eyes wide. 

Takeo blinked, and drew his arm back. "Sorry." He'd thought…

"It's fine!" Tao said, grabbing Takeo's hand. "I was just surprised you did that without me asking first." 

One side of Takeo's smile curled up into a small smile. "I'd thought it would be better if I did it before you complained again."

Tao grumbled, settling Takeo's arm over his shoulders. "I wasn't complaining; I was stating fact. I was cold and you were warmer than me. Fact." 

"All right," he said, letting it slide, since they both knew what he'd said was true. 

Tao stuck his tongue out at him and then wriggled closer, pressing his forehead to Takeo's chin. 

Takeo raised his eyebrows, but adjusted his arm to wrap around Tao better.

"Yup, having a personal hot water bottle is great." Tao snickered when Takeo rolled his eyes and thwapped the back of his head. 

"Don't people usually hold their hot water bottles?" The words tumbled out of Takeo's mouth, and for one second, two seconds, Tao didn't say anything or move. 

"Weeell, since you asked so nicely..." Takeo _heard_ Tao's smirk. Tao shifted, sliding his arm over Takeo's waist, resting his hand at his back.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, tense, waiting, and when nothing happened, they relaxed at the same time. Takeo's sigh ruffled Tao's hair. 

Tao lifted his head to Takeo's, wrinkling his nose. "How am I supposed to sleep when you're breathing on my face?"

"You've slept in worse conditions." They had already talked about that. And he wasn't breathing on Tao's face.

"Breathing. On. My face, Ta-ke-o." Tao drew his name out, prodding him in the back. 

"You could turn around," Takeo said, his lip twitching again as he teased him. 

"But then how am I supposed to have my arm around you if my back's to you?"

"You want to have your arm around me that much?" Takeo asked, amused. 

"Uh, well-" Tao cheeks went pink. 

Takeo waited, used to being the person flustered, not the person doing the flustering. It was fun; he could see why Tao did it. 

"I want both!" Tao poked him again. "Hmph." 

"So it's your choice." Takeo didn't move, watching Tao come to decision. 

His lips a thin line, Tao squirmed his free arm up between them and tilted Takeo's chin up with his fingers. "There, better."

…Not what he'd expected. "I am not sleeping like this." It was uncomfortable for his neck already, to say the least. He tried to straighten his head, Tao only resisting enough to be felt. 

"Do it until I fall asleep."

"No."

"Dammit." Tao sighed, taking his hand away. "Okay, fine." Tao wriggled closer, resting his forehead on Takeo's collarbone. "Now you can't breathe on my face." Every word tickled the skin there. 

"You're breathing on my chest."

"So turn around."

Takeo chuckled, squeezing Tao for a brief second. "No."

-

Takeo heard the hum of Tao's laptop next to him when he woke up. The usual tapping that accompanied it was missing; there were fingers in his hair again instead.

Tao hadn't seemed to notice he was awake, still running his fingers through Takeo's hair, starting at his crown and going all the way to the tips. He didn't seem to be playing it with, the movements methodological and the same every time.

It felt nice. 

"You going to lie there all morning or am I going to have to start putting things in your hair so you 'wake up'?"

Takeo opened his eyes but didn't move his head. "…You knew I was awake?" 

A huff. "Of course." Tao's fingers kept sliding through his hair. "Your brow scrunches up when you wake up." Tao poked him on the forehead, probably right where it happened. 

Takeo tried to bat his hand away, and Tao pulled back, snickering, their fingers not connecting. Tao's hands were in Takeo's hair again a second later. 

"I bought a brush." It was lying on the bedside table; Tao had been there with him when he'd bought it. 

"I know." Tao's hands didn't stop. "I prefer doing it this way." 

Oh. 

Takeo blinked, his brain starting to put together what Tao was saying. "You're brushing my hair for me?"

Tao nodded. "You spend a lot of time brushing your hair in the morning so I thought I should help." 

Huh. "Thanks."

"No problem." 

Except wariness grew in Takeo's gut when he saw Tao's smile. What was he going to say now? "So I was doing some research and-"

"No." He didn't want to know before Tao said it. 

"-what should I try?" Tao continued, ignoring him. "Braids? Something simpler? More complicated?"

Dammit, Tao was being stubborn about this now, not protesting. "You are not playing with my hair while I'm sleeping." Takeo could already picture Tao adding things to his hair. And if they got _stuck_ …

"I'll make sure your hair's all in place when you wake up, promise." Takeo wasn't sure _what_ that gesture Tao did but he didn't trust it. 

"Okay, fine," Tao said, before Takeo could say anything. "I'll do it when you're awake so you can tell me if I'm doing it wrong."

"I... Okay." That was probably going to be the best compromise he was going to get.

-

Tao stretched, his hands behind his head as he, Takeo and M-21 left the school after the final bell had went. "So that's what a 'normal' day of work feels like."

Takeo smiled, M-21 in between them, leading the way. It had been like that for the entire day, Takeo and Tao content to follow M-21 as he was the more experienced one here. Being at the centre of attention was strange, Tao revelling in it and trying to greet everyone he could. They'd gotten a few people who followed them around at a distance but M-21 assured them that would stop soon enough. 

"What did you think of it?" M-21 asked.

"Boring," Tao said, his lips twitching. "But that's good – that means no stress and people aren't yelling in my ear. It's pretty awesome."

"Heh, yeah," M-21 said, nodding. 

"So, that's the highlight of the day – patrolling the grounds and soaking up some sun?" Tao asked. 

"Uh..." The hesitation made Takeo pay more attention to M-21. What did they need to know? "There was some trouble a couple days after I started."

There was something about that that Takeo couldn't place. There shouldn't have been anything M-21 couldn't handle at a school that had no modified people bar them and if there had, M-21 would have told them about the situation already. 

"Yeah?" Tao leaned closer, grinning. 

M-21 snorted. "Someone parked their car in the wrong place and tried to sic his bodyguard on me. I nearly kicked his van over."

Tao snickered. "But what did the Boss say?"

Takeo raised his eyebrows, looking at Tao. "'The Boss'?" Where had that come from?

Tao nodded. "Yeah, the Boss! He's our Boss now, isn't he?" Tao looked between them as if for confirmation. "We're working for him and getting paid and everything."

Ah, that made sense when it was put that way. 

"He was fine with it," M-21 said, bringing them back to the original topic. "So long as I don't kill anyone, he doesn't care. Same with _him_." 

Takeo filed that away for future reference.

-

Tao ambushed Takeo as soon as he left the dining room, laughing and slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"It's not _that_ funny." Takeo had wanted to help M-21 with the dishes – he hadn't thought Frankenstein would make it a routine. 

"It _is_!" Tao was more leaning his weight on Takeo than his own feet, still laughing. "Boss got you _good_." 

"And what do you think Frankenstein will get you to do?" Takeo tried to shove him off.

Tao stuck his tongue out at him, swivelling out the way. "He won't." He ended up standing in front of Takeo, his other arm around Takeo's shoulders and Takeo blinked. That was a lot closer than Tao normally got. 

"Tao-" 

Tao leaned in, sliding his arms further around Takeo and rested his head on Takeo's shoulder. 

Before Takeo could say or do anything, Tao let go, hopping back. 

"…What was that." And when the words were out of his mouth, Takeo knew the answer Tao would give.

"It's called a hug, Takeo; I thought you knew what they were." Tao wagged a finger at him. 

Takeo rolled his eyes; Tao dodging his actual question again. "I do." 

"Heh. That's good." Tao walked off and Takeo sighed. If Tao didn't want a hug in return, he wouldn't give one.

-

Tao had been jittery since the children had gone upstairs. Their yells could be heard from the living room and Takeo assumed they must have gone to the computer room. Tao's leg was in constant movement, bouncing up and down as he stared in that direction.

"You want to play with them?" M-21 asked, sipping his tea.

"Kinda?" Tao glanced at him. "I just want to try out what they're playing. It sounds fun."

"You can go up now," M-21 said with a shrug. "They love playing with people." 

"Rea-" Tao paused, then chuckled. "Seeing how they keep trying to drag you and Boss into playing with them, I shouldn't be surprised." 

M-21 shrugged again. "We used to play games with them when it was just the three of us."

"Hmm…" Tao glanced between the three of them. "How about the three of us play?"

What?

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

Of course Tao would that. "Says the one with the most practice," Takeo said, shaking his head.

"Pfft, playing a game is different from hacking! We'll all be on the same playing field." Tao paused, glancing at M-21. "Well, maybe."

M-21 smirked. "I've played it a few times, but I'm not that good at it."

"Oooh, trying to lull us into a false sense of security before kicking our butts, are you?" Tao turned to Takeo, raising a hand to his mouth and said in a conspiratorial tone, "We should team up just in case."

"Or I could team up with M-21 for when you get used to it," Takeo countered. That would make it fairer later on. 

Tao eyes went wide in mock hurt. "How could you? After all the time we've spent together!" 

"And I know how good you are with everything computer related." And gaming definitely _was_ that. 

Tao pouted, crossing his arms. 

"The teams can be randomly generated," M-21 said, a small smile curving his lips. 

"Nope." Tao shook his head, eyes closed, and he sniffed. "I'm going on whatever team Takeo's not on."

That was _one_ way of choosing teams…

-

The title screen loaded in and… Huh. Takeo hadn't asked what kind of game they were going to play, but maybe he should have.

Takeo logged in and he navigated the menus that popped up after a few false starts, listening to M-21's explanations. 

The view when he was finally in the game was first-person, a gun held up at the bottom of the screen.

…It was a shooting game. 

Takeo smiled, getting comfortable. 

"Oh, crap." Tao's mutter could be heard throughout the entire room. 

The game was _definitely_ going to be interesting.

-

"Ass - _asshole_!"

Takeo ignored the yelp, still clicking the crosshair at the avatar. The game was too removed from firing an actual gun; he had a habit of moving his mouse 'wildly' when trying to aim, too used to using his entire arm for that. 

He groaned when he got headshotted instead. 

"I demand a rematch!" 

"You're getting one," M-21 shot back. 

Takeo shook his head as he listened to the exchange, smiling. He may have had the lowest score, but he had to admit, the game _was_ fun.

-

Takeo heard Tao's whooping laughter long before he heard his running footsteps towards him.

"Takeo!" Tao sped around the corner and almost crashed into him. He didn't, slowing at the last second, wrapping his arms around Takeo's shoulders instead and using him as an anchor to stop. "The Boss just gave me spare parts! The parts he used for his pcs!" Tao made an incoherent sound, vibrating with energy. 

"I get to _build my laptop with those_. C'mon," Tao said let go of him and hooked a hand around Takeo's wrist. "I need to find the extra parts – like the case! Aaaah, what else do I need?" Tao didn't stop talking the entire time as he pulled Takeo out the house.

-

"Okay, that's everything…" Tao muttered, securing the last piece of his laptop into place. "Now to see how well this runs."

Takeo was sitting on his bed, brushing his hair after a shower, watching Tao work again. 

Tao set his laptop on the desk and with a flourish, pressed the power button. 

The screen lit up, text scrolling down before flashing away, more things replacing it before they also disappeared. 

Tao whimpered, and Takeo slowed his hand. "It's not working?" It seemed fine to him. 

"Where did you get that from?" Tao span around to stare at him, spluttering. "This is already-" Tao pounced on the laptop, slotting in one of the disks by his hand. The loading bar filled without a pause and in a few seconds, it was complete.

"This is handling like a _dream_! And I haven't even-" Tao's fingers flew over the keyboard and the start screen loaded up with a proud tune. 

"Now for a short test…" Tao twirled a usb stick Takeo hadn't seen him pick up between his fingers. Maybe Tao kept it in the same place as his cables. "Let's see how you work with this…" 

A new window popped up, and once Tao had clicked on a few things, it was accompanied by more. 

"And it's all done." Tao whistled, grinning. "This'll do me for a _while_."

Takeo had opened his mouth to say something, but Tao's grin faded, and Takeo looked at what had Tao's attention. 

One of the windows on the screen was split into smaller panels; Regis was in one of them, walking down a corridor. The corridor right outside their door and Takeo could hear his footsteps in tandem to what he was seeing.

Ah. "The cameras." They hadn't taken them down and Takeo had almost forgotten about them. 

They shared a look.

Tao rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze sliding away. "We don't need this anymore, do we?"

"No." They didn't. They trusted the rest of the household now, knowing they weren't planning on hurting them. 

"But…" Tao frowned, staring at the camera feeds again. "Maybe they would be a good security procedure in general? Just in case something happens. The Boss _does_ have a lot of equipment and information that could go _really_ wrong in someone else's hands."

Takeo nodded. "It's good he only cares about improving his master's ramen recipe."

"And looking after us, heh."

-

Takeo leaned back on the balcony railing, Tao leaning on it beside him, his arms crossed.

"Hah, who knew the quiet would be broken that quickly again?" Tao said, drumming his fingers, his leg bouncing. 

Takeo just nodded, his eyes closed. He hadn't been able to do anything, only watch as M-21 was injured in front of him by that blond noble. 

He was the fastest out of the three of them and he had still been too slow. 

"We need to get better," he said, opening his eyes. That was their only option if they wanted to make sure no-one else they cared about got hurt.

…Is that what the household was to him now? People he cared about? But they were, the shock and anger at the sight of M-21's blood a real emotion in his gut. It wasn't something he'd needed to think about. 

"Yeah. Hm, Boss?"

Takeo nodded. "Sparring will only get us so far." And it had done nothing to improve them; the three of them had worked out a few strategies when working together but they wouldn't be able to match a noble's speed with that. 

"Then we'd better wait until Boss gets out."

Together they left the balcony and went downstairs.

-

Takeo focused on breathing, in and out. He'd had worse treatments at the Union - _far_ worse- but he still ached, his skin tingling with sensitivity.

He felt a soft tug on his head and when he focused, he saw Tao's hands in front of his face, running his fingers through his hair. 

"What…" No, it was obvious what Tao was doing; there was no point asking. 

Tao's hands twisted, twining parts of his hair together. "Braiding your hair, s'all."

Did he care? No. Takeo settled to watch the hypnotic movement of Tao's hands, trying to figure out what his next movement would be. 

"Just don't put anything in my hair…"

Tao chuckled, his hands not stopping. "Don't worry – the hairties are aaall the way over there and I'm aaall the way over here and that's just way too much effort."

Okay, good…

-

"Ah, Takeo, Tao, there you are."

Takeo turned at Frankenstein's voice; he and Tao had decided to go to the balcony, wanting some fresh air. "Yes?" 

Smiling softly, Frankenstein said, "It has come to my attention that you two have been sharing a room since your arrival here."

Takeo's eyebrows shot up. Wait – how did he know? And why did Frankenstein care? Was he going to tell them to stop?

"I can put in a second single bed if you wish." He paused, looking between them both. "Or a double bed, if you prefer."

Oh, that's why he was asking. 

"Uh…" Takeo and Tao shared a look. "I don't mind?" He said that more to Tao than answering Frankenstein's question. He really didn't mind, but if he was being honest…he'd gotten used to sleeping together. 

Tao beamed. "A double!" he said, turning back to Frankenstein. "I'd always wanted to sleep in one of those, heh."

All right. "That's fine," Takeo said. 

Frankenstein nodded. "Very well. If you could make sure you don't leave anything in your bed and that there's room for the double bed in its place?"

"Righto, Boss!" Tao said, saluting. "We'll be right on it."

-

Tao flopped back on their new double bed, his arm spread wide. "Wow, I can actually do this now. Feels weird."

Takeo smiled, climbing into bed.

It was nice having that much space after spending so much time nearly on top of each other. 

They lay there, and Takeo listened to Tao's breathing, expecting to hear him drop off, but he didn't. 

Tao hummed, twisting in bed, patting the space around him. 

"Trying to warm yourself up?" Takeo commented, watching him. 

"No." Tao huffed, and rolled towards him, looking at him. 

Takeo chuckled and held his arm up. 

A relieved smile broke out on Tao's face and Tao wriggled into the space Takeo had made, Takeo wrapping an arm around him once he was there.

-

Only Tao's breathing greeted Takeo when he woke up. There was no tap on the keyboard, no hum of the laptop, no fingers through his hair.

He opened his eyes and… Huh. Tao was asleep, his hair falling over closed eyes, his breathing even and steady. 

It wasn't often Takeo woke up before Tao. He reached over, checking if Tao reacted as he did so. Tao didn't, and Takeo started running his fingers through Tao's hair. 

It wasn't the same as finger combing his own hair, not getting feedback. The white part of his hair felt different from the rest. Coarser. Tao shifted under his touch, leaning into it and Takeo paused to see if he would react further. 

Tao didn't and Takeo smiled, starting again. Was this what he was like when Tao played with his hair? He sat up to access Tao's hair easier. 

A few minutes later, Tao's breathing stuttered for three breaths and then evened out again, his body tensing for the same amount of time. 

So it _was_ easy to tell if someone woke up if enough attention was paid. 

"Morning," he said, slowing his hand. 

"…Ooh? Do I have to check if there's anything in my hair?"

Takeo huffed. "You can if you want."

"Hmm, nah, I trust ya." Without opening his eyes, Tao snuggled closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tongue twister can be heard (by google translate since I couldn't find another video of it) [here](https://translate.google.com/#auto/en/%EB%82%B4%EA%B0%80%20%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%B0%20%EA%B8%B0%EB%A6%B0%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%BC%EC%9D%80%20%EC%9E%98%20%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%B0%20%EA%B8%B0%EB%A6%B0%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%BC%EC%9D%B4%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%8B%88%EA%B0%80%20%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%B0%20%EA%B8%B0%EB%A6%B0%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%BC%EC%9D%80%20%EB%AA%BB%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%B0%20%EA%B8%B0%EB%A6%B0%EA%B7%B8%EB%A6%BC%EC%9D%B4%EB%8B%A4)


End file.
